Men's Basketball

Engineers Suffer First Loss of the Season at the Hands of Division I Foe, Harvard

Dec 28, 2009

Courtesy of Harvard University Sports Information

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Harvard methodically pulled
away from visiting MIT in a battle of Cambridge neighbors Monday
afternoon as the Crimson won easily, 88-61, at Lavietes Pavilion.
It was the first match-up between the two Cambridge neighbors since
1985.

MIT, ranked 22nd nationally in Division III, entered
the game undefeated with its best start in program history and sees
its record dip to 11-1 overall. Harvard improves to 8-3 with the
victory as the Crimson improves to 5-0 at home this season.

The statistics told the story in this one as Harvard's deep
bench outscored MIT by a count of 43-7. Harvard also battered the
smaller Engineers in the paint, outscoring its guest, 54-18.

Jeremy Lin led all scorers with 18 points in 26 minutes while
adding four assists, three blocks, three steals and four rebounds.
Pat Magnarelli added 16 points (7-9 FG) and eight rebounds in 19
minutes. Dee Giger added 14 points in 22 minutes and Christian
Webster had 10 points, six assists and three steals.

Keith Wright had four blocks as the Crimson swatted 11 MIT shots
on the day.

Harvard led by as many as 15 points in the first half though MIT
cut the deficit to six, 44-38, following a 3-pointer by Billy
Bender early in the second half. The Crimson rattled off nine
straight points afterwards however as part of a 20-6 run to claim a
64-44 lead with 11 minutes remaining. Harvard also closed the game
with a 16-4 run.

MIT was led by Mitchell Kates's 14 points (6-16 FG) and five
assists.

MIT stayed close thanks to impressive long range shooting with
nine early trifectas. The Engineers could not get a triple to fall
for the final 13:30 of play however, in ending the game 9-of-25.

Harvard shot 55 percent from the floor overall (33-60) and was
17-of-22 from the free throw line.

Tech returns to action on January 5, traveling to Tufts
University for an 8:00 p.m. contest.